


The Red and Black Phantom of Jump City

by blackash26



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Teen Titans Go!
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Plot Bunny, Unfinished
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 13:29:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7534546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackash26/pseuds/blackash26
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Am I going crazy?</i>
</p>
<p>His hands curled into fists. He wanted to scream.</p>
<p>In the past weeks, months really, if he was being honest, a new mantra had joined the question that haunted him day and night. The two streams of thought ran counterpoint to each other, blending and mixing in his mind.</p>
<p>
  <i>Who is Slade?</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Who is the man in red and black?</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Red and Black Phantom of Jump City

**Author's Note:**

> I am backing up old odds and ends from Tumblr.
> 
> This contains the few scenes I wrote from a plot bunny about a Red Robin crossover with Teen Titans Go! (I'm not sure I ever posted the full version of the second scene, so at least that's new?)
> 
> Since it is unclear from the scenes exactly what is going on, I have included the initial plot bunny at the end. If you are interested in adopting this plot bunny, feel free! Just give me credit for the idea and let me know so that I can read it too!

Robin glared narrowly through the darkness at the glowing screen in front of him and resisted the urge to slam his hands down on the keyboard in frustration.

_Who are you?_

This. This couldn’t be possible. It _wasn’t_ possible for someone to exist without leaving a trace.

_Do you even exist?_

No one except Slade, of course.

_Am I going crazy?_

His hands curled into fists. He wanted to scream.

In the past weeks, months really, if he was being honest, a new mantra had joined the question that haunted him day and night. The two streams of thought ran counterpoint to each other, blending and mixing in his mind.

_Who is Slade?_

_Who is the man in red and black?_

Robin had only ever caught sight of the figure out of the corner of his eyes. Like some kind of phantom. At first he had thought it was nothing. A trick of the light. Paranoia left over from his encounters with Slade. He had almost let it go completely. There was no need to worry his friends over a figment of his own imagination, after all.

But _someone_ had saved them from a very nearly lethal encounter with Madam Rouge several weeks ago. Locks did not unlock themselves. Complex computer programs did not hack themselves.

At first his friends had been convinced he’d had a concussion or was hallucinating from some kind of poison. They had seen no one. He had almost convinced himself they were right. He had seen no one either, after all.

But it happened again. And again. And again.

And then Beast Boy had seen something. Well, smelled it. And while the changeling was hardly the most reputable of advocates, his nose rarely lied. Beast Boy has smelled something odd both after two of their rescues and near the site of another one of their fights.

It was evidence none of them could deny. Someone was watching them.

Robin searched everywhere. He scoured security footage and crime scenes, he analyzed his own clothing for fingerprints or traces of foreign materials after each mysterious rescue. He ran every test he could think of to find some trace, some clue about this mysterious person.

He found nothing.

_“Maybe it’s nothing,” Cyborg said eventually, always trying to be reasonable._

_“Even if there is someone, how do we know he is our enemy?” Starfire had asked earnestly. “Perhaps he is a friend.”_

_“Yeah,” Beast Boy said. “Maybe he’s just shy. Or, you know, disfigured and he hides away because he’s ashamed of his grotesque appearance. I know I would be if I looked that bad…” the changeling rambled._

_“And yet you somehow manage to leave your room in the morning,” Raven said dryly._

_“Uh huh…Hey! That’s not funny!”_

Robin ignored his friends.

He didn’t expect them to take this threat seriously. But he had been trained for this. It was his job to watch the shadows, to protect them from the things they would never see coming. He just needed proof and then he would know how to respond to this newest possible menace.

He was haunted by this “ghost”. Who was he? What did he want? Why was he helping them in secret? And most importantly: was he in any way connected with Slade?

That last question sent shiver down his spine.

Robin pushed away from his computer and began pacing. He closed his eyes and tried to recall every tiny glimpse he’d garnered of the figure in red and black. But he couldn’t even piece together what the red and black costume looked like, let alone anything more useful like what the stranger’s intentions were toward the Teen Titans and Jump City.

Still, there was something strangely familiar about this red and black phantom. If only Robin could put his finger on it…

“Who are you?” Robin snarled the question at the shadows of his room for the thousandth time.

The shadows did not reply.

***

“You knew it was a trap,” Robin accused.

“Of course,“ the Phantom said with a shrug. “But since I _am_ one of the good guys I wasn’t about to let you die over it.”

“Good guys don’t keep to the shadows, like they’ve got something to hide.”

“And people in masks cannot be trusted? The sunshine must be getting to you, Boy Wonder. I’m not the only one with secrets.”

“My secrets protect people.”

“And mine don’t?”

Robin snarled in frustration and threw himself into the fight. He fought with everything he had which only made it worse when he realized that instead of properly fighting back, the Phantom was holding back. He was, he was treating this like some kind of _spar_.

The Boy Wonder worked even harder, but the Phantom wouldn’t let him get close enough to do any real damage. No opponent should be so calm and calculating in such an important fight. It was infuriatingly like fighting Ba - . No. It was like fighting Slade.

The Phantom dodged an admittedly wild shot, grabbed Robin’s wrist and sent the teen flying. Robin flipped in midair, landing easily like the acrobat he was, and scowled darkly at his opponent. Yes, it was just like fighting Slade. He could just imagine the villain watching him with that leering single eye as Robin struggled and struggled but never managed to measure up.

“Are you working with Slade?” Robin demanded as he slid back into a defensive stance.

The Phantom’s mildly amused smirk disappeared. “Deathstroke? He hasn’t been bothering you, has he?”

_Deathstroke?_ _Who is Deathstroke? And…more importantly, why was that any business of the Phantom?_

Robin was baffled. “Why do you care?”

“Because apparently keeping you alive is a full-time job,” the Phantom said lightly. Robin wanted to beat the good humor out of his opponent. This wasn’t a _joke_. “And Slade is far too interested in you,” the Phantom added in a more serious tone. “You should stay away from him.”

“So you _have_ been following us.” Robin latched onto the knowledge. He wasn’t crazy. He’d been right. And the Phantom was certainly up to no good.

“Yes,” the Phantom said.

“Why?”

“You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, have you?” the Phantom noted.

“I’m not going to waste my time listening to your lies,” Robin growled. “Why would _you_ want to protect us?”

“It’s something to do in the meantime.”

“What? You. We’re not your _hobby_.”

The Phantom smirked and Robin bristled. “Right. Believe what you will, little bird,” the Phantom said dismissively. “While this has been fun, I do have actual work to do. Try to stay out of trouble, would you?”

Robin only had a moment’s warning and then the air was filled with familiar black smoke. The Boy Wonder lunged forward in the smog, desperate to catch his enemy before the Phantom disappeared.

“Robin!” cried a familiar voice, and then he heard the familiar beating of Beast Boy’s pterodactyl wings. The smoke dispersed easily revealing that the Phantom was long gone.  

“Dude, how did you get lost in your own smoke bomb?” Cyborg asked.

“I didn’t,” Robin snapped, infuriated at himself for falling for one of his own tricks. “It wasn’t my bomb. It was his. The Phantom.”

**Author's Note:**

> ...More specifically, I want Red Robin Tim Drake to end up [in the Teen Titans Go! universe] accidentally just after finding Bruce (or maybe before, not sure).
> 
> And I want Tim to be super confused, especially when he sees the Titans and how serious Robin (Dick Grayson) is (and why the hell is Dick wearing his uniform anyway?).
> 
> But he’s really intrigued. So when he’s taking breaks from trying to figure out how to get home he falls back on old habits and stalks the Teen Titans. They have no idea he’s there, until they get in over their heads one day and Tim saves them despite his better judgement. Of course, being Tim and a bat, he’s all mysterious and secretive and the Titans don’t know if he’s real or not.
> 
> And Robin is of course highly suspicious. So the Titans don’t know if Tim is a good guy or a bad guy in part because Tim reminds them of Slade.
> 
> And meanwhile Tim keeps rescuing them and looking out for them and he finds it really peaceful. A large part of him wants to stay.
> 
> And then I want Slade to show up (not sure when exactly in the Teen Titans cartoon verse this would all happen). Because I really want Tim to be incredibly BAMF and keep Slade away from Robin. Because he’s pretty sure that Deathstroke is even creepier in this universe. And then of course Slade becomes interested in Tim and Tim isn’t sure if this is better than Ra’s or not.
> 
> How on earth would this insanity end?


End file.
